refugees

Find resources for refugees throughout San Diego County by clicking this link. Many services are available including help with resettlement, immigration, education, jobs, literacy, healthcare, and much more.

July 16, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) – The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is reaching out to refugees, asylum seekers and other immigrants in the U.S. to help identify and prosecute those committing human rights violations in other countries.

June 24, 2015 (San Diego) – Clergy members and Iraqi community leaders held a prayer vigil on June 18th, calling for release Iraqi Chaldean Christians held in the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center.

Since the rise of ISIS, many Iraqi Chaldean Christian have fled to neighboring countries. Some have been fortunate enough to make it across the Mexico-US border. But many of these Christians have now been imprisoned in the detention center for up to four months without any indication of imminent release, despite testimony from Christian family members in San Diego that can vouch for their identity.

Event is part of massive roll-out to educate local refugees on new healthcare laws and more

By Miriam Raftery

June 24, 2013 (City Heights) – “This is the largest refugee resettlement community in California and one of the largest in the United States,” Councilmember Marti Emerald said at Somali Family Service Community Healthcare Fair held on World Refugee Day event Saturday in City Heights Community Park, in collaboration with East African Collaborative.

June 21, 2013 (San Diego) – June is International Refugee Month and the Nile Sisters Development Initiative is sponsoring World Refugee Day on June 29 from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. at 6035 University Avenue, San Diego, in the parking lot. The event will celebrate the diverse refugee cultures in our community with food, music, entertainment, raffles and more.

May 13, 2013 (Geneva) – A new report released today by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) reveals that 32.4 million people were forced to flee their homes in 2012 by disasters such as floods, storms and earthquakes. While Asia and west and central Africa bore the brunt, 1.3 million were displaced in rich countries, with the USA particularly affected.

Nearly all (98%) of displacement in 2012 was linked to climate- and weather-related events.

January 30, 2013 (El Cajon) Updated March 15, 2013- Last week, Troy McKinney, Fresh Fund coordinator from the International Rescue committee (IRC), participated in an exclusive interview with East County Magazine. He gave more details of the future farmers’ market that will be set up on the Prescott Promenade in downtown El Cajon each Thursday starting March 21.

Like the IRC’s farmer’s market started four years ago in City Heights, the El Cajon farmer’s market will help both local refugees and the broader community.

February 25, 2013 (El Cajon)- Last Saturday was a celebration of community gardens in El Cajon where the public was invited to different garden events around El Cajon. At the IRC-Kaiser community garden at 203 Travelodge Drive, Anne Barron, community garden coordinator from the International Rescue Committee, gave the public a complete tour of the garden. Still in the production stage, the garden is set to open in mid-March.

February 19, 2013 (El Cajon)- The International Rescue Committee has partnered with Kaiser Permanente in El Cajon to open up a community garden for El Cajon residents, who wish to become gardeners by filling out a contract, to grow their food.

Anne Barron, community garden coordinator, gave ECM a tour of the garden, which is expected to open up in mid-March. The community garden is located at 203 Travelodge Drive in El Cajon.

September 20, 2012 (San Diego) -- Join SAME and The "Centro Cultural De La Raza" as we Co-Host this important subject on September 29th, 2012 from 6 –9p.m. at Centro Cultural de la Raza, 2004 Park Blvd., San Diego, 92101.

Experienced attorneys will speak about issues impacting LGBT immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers, including the progress made in adjudicating claims by same-sex bi-national couples, the impact of DOMA litigation or repeal of DOMA on LGBT immigrants and much more.

September 13, 2012 (City Heights) — San Diego is home to refugees from around the world – people who have fled war, famine or persecution in their homelands. Now you can help refugees rebuild their lives by purchasing fruits and vegetables grown by local refugees — delivered fresh each week at a cost of just $12.

March 31, 2012 (Rancho San Diego) -- A pilot program for recent Iraqi immigrants that teaches English in the context of office work is being offered at Cuyamaca College through a partnership between the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District and San Diego County.

December 17, 2011 (San Diego) –This holiday season, the International Rescue Committee offers options for socially conscious, eco-friendly and financially prudent shoppers – Rescue Gifts that save and improve lives of refugees and others hit by war and natural disaster.

San Diego County last year welcomed more refugees than any other U.S. county, making this especially meaningful here. At Rescue.org/Gifts, holiday shoppers can choose Rescue Gifts to dedicate to friends or family members, including:

February 1, 2011 (El Cajon) -- The El Cajon Police Department is hosting a community forum for the City of El Cajon’s Middle Eastern population. The event was organized for people who recently immigrated to the U.S. to help familiarize these new members of the community with local laws and services available to them in the city.

The forum will be held this evening, February 1st, from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. at the Ronald Reagan Community Center in El Cajon at 195 E. Douglas in El Cajon.

June 29, 2010 (City Heights) – Refugee Works and the San Diego Refugee Foreign invite local businesses to an International Night of Networking on Wednesday, July 14 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at City Heights Center conference hall, 4305 University Avenue, San Diego. The event will showcase talents of foreign-trained professionals, forced to leave their homes because of war or persecution, who are now legal U.S. residents.

March 9, 2010 (San Diego) -- The County's Health and Human Services Agency Strategic Planning & Operations Support Division will hold public hearings in central and east regions of San Diego County to give interested community members an opportunity to provide input on refugee employment services in San Diego County.

February 12, 2010 (El Cajon) –Iraqi immigrants began lining up at 5 a.m. today to recertify documentation and quality for social service benefits at the Chaldean-Middle Eastern Services Office at 343 Main Street in El Cajon. But shortly after 9 a.m., Heartland Fire & Rescue crews responded to a medical aid call. They found a crowd estimated at 500 to 1,000 people congregating in and around the second floor office.